Sep. 19, 2013

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, shown in April 2013, said Monday through a spokeswoman that the audit report on the Wayne County Jail project would be released at the conclusion of her office's investigation. / Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press

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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and members of a county-appointed panel met with state officials today to talk about the next steps for the failed Wayne County Jail, a project still costing the county $1 million a month as it sits stalled.

While Ficano was in Lansing, the Wayne County Commission was meeting downtown in another attempt to force county Prosecutor Kym Worthy to release an audit that its members say is vital to understanding how the project at St. Antoine and I-375 got so offtrack.

The Lansing meeting appears to center on whether Wayne County will use the mostly empty state-owned Mound Correctional Facility to house inmates and abandon the new jail project altogether. The project, originally budgeted at $300 million, was ordered stopped last month after projections showed it was going $91 million over budget.

Ficano spokeswoman June West said Ficano, Economic Development Growth Engine Director Ray Byers, Corporation Counsel Jeffrey Collins and Wayne County Building Authority member Jim Saros met with Gov. Rick Snyder’s chief of staff, Dennis Muchmore. She would only say it was a continuation of discussions from a Committee of the Whole meeting of the Wayne County Commission on Aug. 14.

At that meeting, Muchmore said the governor supported county efforts to use the Mound Correctional Facility.

“It would be premature to get into particulars,” West said. “We’re still working through what the package (for the jail project) is going to be.”

Saros, reached by phone this afternoon, would not comment on the details of the morning meeting, but said he was optimistic the state’s assistance would lead to a repurposed facility at the Mound site.

“The state has shown that they want to be a willing partner to Wayne County and the city of Detroit,” Saros said. “We’re still in the investigating stages with the finalists for the site, though.”

Saros and others have said that without financial assistance from the state, the county is better off continuing to build its downtown location. Bob Newton, the county’s representative on the project, said Wednesday that about $140 million had already been spent at the site, including costs to close out the construction.

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This week, Worthy convinced a judge to empanel a one-person grand jury to investigate fraud, misconduct or willful neglect of duty in the troubled jail project. In agreeing to the grand jury, Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny also ordered that an audit of the project be kept secret, saying it was now considered evidence.

Auditor General Willie Mayo said he submitted a copy of the report, in draft form, to Worthy in mid-August, as is protocol when probable cause for criminal activity arises while conducting an audit. Worthy sent a letter to Mayo ordering him not to further distribute the document. Commission Chair Gary Woronchak sent a letter to Worthy late last month requesting the report be released.

Mayo told the commission’s Committee of the Whole on Tuesday that he had submitted his final report to Worthy’s office and to Ficano’s office, per auditing standards.

Today, the County Commission, which has been at odds with Worthy over the release of the audit for about a month, passed a resolution to compel her to release it or get a judge’s order that it be withheld.

Though the one-person grand jury has been empaneled, commissioners said the resolution is necessary for future reference.

“This body didn’t get to state its opinion,” said Commissioner Laura Cox, R-Livonia. “We need to fight to keep the documents that we need to do our jobs.”

Worthy, through a spokeswoman, said Monday that the report would be released at the conclusion of her office’s investigation.

The judge’s ruling also limits the effectiveness of a recently created Wayne County Jail task force designed to find the best financial option for county taxpayers. Commissioner Kevin McNamara, chair of the task force, said the documents are necessary for the group to investigate what went wrong with the jail project.

“We don’t have anything to talk about” without the documents, he said.